Doorlatch



HAMJIES Nov. 13 i923.

R. G, MOORE DooRLATcH Filed May 18. 1922 M ATTORNEYS.

Patented Nov. i3, i923..

satana BAYlvIOND G. MOORE, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THEBASSICK COMPANY, OF IBRIDGEPOE'I, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OFCONNECTICUT.

DOORLATCEI.

Application led May 1 8,

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, RAYMOND G. MOORE,

a citizen of the United States, and resident of Bridgeport, county ofFairfield, and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Doorlatches, of which the following is a'specification.

The invention relates to improvements in door latches and particularlyto latches embodying a spring actuated bolt which may be retracted bymeans of a hand lever, or handle. Such constructions are commonly usedon automobile doors, the bolt being provided with a shoulder or surfaceagainst which the hand operated member will press, to retract the bolt,when the same is swung back. In such constructions a hand lever or other'hand operated member may be used for opening the door from the inside,a handle also commonly being provided on the outside of the door,rotation ofv which will also serve to retract the bolt. In suchconstructions the bolt is commonly pressed forward into its projectedposition by means of one spring while a second spring is used to pressthe. hand operated member forwardly to hold it in its inoperativeposition.

Ihe Object of the present invention is the provision of an effective andsimple device of the character referred to in which a single spring isused in place of the two springs referred to, the single spring beingarranged to provide one portion which bears against the bolt and asecond portion which bears against the hand lever, or other pivoted handoperated member for retracting the bolt. This spring is preferablycoiled about or secured to a stud in such manner as to provide two endportions7 one of which bears against'the rear of the bolt while the.other, extending in another direction from the stud, bears against asurface of the hand operated member. By such means the hand operatedmember and bolt will both be spring pressed towards their forwardpositions, the hand operated mem ber being held firmly against a forwardseat 1922. ySerial No. 561,832.

regardless of whether or not the bolt is in a fully projected position.In operation the bolt may, at times, be not fully projected in whichcase the bolt will, of course, not serve to press the hand operatedmember against its seat and preventrattling thereo.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood attention isdirected to the accompanying drawings illustrating certain forms of theinvention. In the drawings- Fig. l represents a front elevation, shownpartly in section, of a door latch construc tion embodying theinvention;

Fig. 2 is a similar view, the hand lever being shown as swung rearwardlyto retract the bolt;

F ig. 3 is a vertical section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. l, and

Fig. 4 is ai front elevation, partly in` sec 70 tion, of a modified formof construction.

Referring to the drawings,the bolt l is slidably mounted on a plate 2,which may be secured to a door in the usual manner. The bolt is guidedand held in place by any suitable means such as the cover plate 3secured to plate l. Plate l is provided with a flange 4 at its forwardedge, through an opening in which the nose 5 of the bolt is slidableinto the projected position shown in Fig. l.

A hand lever 6 is shown in Figs. l, 2 and 3 as pivoted to plate 2 by arivet or pivot pin 7, the hand lever extending upwardly and extendingthrough suitable openings in the upper and lower walls of the coverplate 3. Bolt l is so formed, as by cutting away a portion thereof, asto provide an opening through which the hand lever will extend with ashoulder 8 at the rear edge of the Out away portion. The hand lever willbear against this shoulder and will press the same rearwardly to retractthe bolt when the hand lever is swung rearwardly, in the usual manner.

A spring is provided, as stated, to both press the bolt forwardly and tobear against the hand lever, to press the hand lever forwardlyindependently of the pressure eXerted thereon by shoulder 8 of the bolt.This is preferably accomplished by providing a stud or pin 9 on plate 2about which several convolutions of the spring 10 are coiled to securethe same. This spring may conveniently be formed of spring wire. .lt/hasone end portion 11 which extends upwardly from stud 9 through a.suitable slot in the lower wall of cover plate 3 so as to bearagainstthe rear end surface of the bolt. VThe other end portion, 12, ofthe spring extends downwardly from stud 9 and bears against the rearsurrace of the hand lever.

A seat. or abutment -is provided against which the forward edge of thehand lever will bear when therlatter is'in its forward or inoperativeposition. This seat may take any desired form within Vthe presentinvention, and is shown as comprising a member 13 rotatably mounted inplate 2 and in a flanged plate lasecured thereto. This rotatable member13 has a squared socket 15 therethrough through which the shank of anoutside handle member may be inserted to rotate the same. A dog or nose16 of member 13 is adapted to bear against the forward surface of thehand lever, as is common, so that the hand lever and the bolt may bemoved rearwardly by rotation of member 13. Forward movement of dog orarm 16 beyond the position shown in Fig. 1 is prevented by a suitablestop (not shown), this stop preferably comprising the end oftheslotinthe casing -through which dog 16 extends. Arm 16, when in itsstopped position, comprisesan abutment against which the hand lever isnormally sprin'gepressedforwardly. lt is common in certain other'priorconstructions for the rotatable handle operated member'to operatevdirectlyupon the bolt, to retract the latter without swinging the handlever rearwardly, and it should be understood thatmy invention is notlimited in this respect. y

It will be noted that with the construction described Vthe hand lever isspring pressed forwardly through the pressure of the bolt against oneportion of the same, the hand lever also being spring pressed forwardlyby the pressure of portion' 12 0f the spring against a different part ofthe hand lever', separated from the point at which the bolt pressesagainst the hand lever. Thus when the bolt is in itsfully projectedposition the hand lever will be pressed against its forward seat by theaction of a single spring, act-ing upon it at two separated points,-that is, both directly, at one point, and through the bolt, at a secondpoint; andlwhen the bolt is not fully projected the hand lever willstill be pressed against its forward'seat by the same spring. In themodification shownl in Fig. 4 a

handle-operated member is substituted for the hand lever. Member 17 isVrotatably mounted in plate 2 and flanged plate 18 secured thereto, andhas a squared socket 19 therein, in 'which the shank of a handle may` beinserted. An arm 20fon member 17 will bear against shoulder 8 on thebolt to retract the latter. This arm will bear, in its normalinoperative position, ,against a 4forward stop `indicated at 21. Spring101 is, coiled about stud 9, withone end portion 111 pressing againstthe rear of the bolt. The other end portion, 121, of thespring,bearsagainst a lug or ear, 22 on member 17 so as to press arm 20against its forward seat, regardless -of whether the bolt is fullyprojected.

it wiilbe understood that the invention is las broad as is indicated bythe accompanying claims.

' l/Vhat I claim is:

1. ln a door latch, the combination of a supporting plate, a boltslidably mounted thereon, and having a transverse surface, a hand leverpivoted on said plate, and adapted to be swung back in engagement withsaid surface to retract the bolt, a rotatable barrel in said plate,adapted to be rotated by a handle, an arm on said barrel having asurface against which said hand lever bears when in its forwardposition, said arm having a stopped position in which it is engaged bysaid hand lever in the forward position of the latter, a stud on saidplate, and a spring secured to said Stud, said spring having oneendportion pressing said bolt forwardly and another end portion pressingagainst said hand lever to press it forwardly.

2. ln a door latch, the combination 'of a' supporting plate, a boltslidably mounted thereon, and having ashoulder, a hand lever lpivoted onsaid plate, 'and adaptedto be swung back in engagement i with saidshoulder to retract/the bolt, a forward seat Aagainst which said handlever bears when in its forward position, a stud on said plate, to therear of said lever, below said bolt and above the pivot of said handlever, and a spring coiled about said stud, with one end portionextending upwardly and bearing aga-inst the rear of saidV bolt to pressit forwardly, and the other end'portion eX- tending downwardly andbearing against said hand lever above the pivot thereof to press itforwardly. V f

3. In a door latch, the `combination of a supporting plate, a'bcltslidably mountedV thereon, and having a transverse surface, a handoperated member pivoted on said plate and adapted to be swung backinengagement with said surface to retract the I bolt, a single'spring,having an end portion pressing said bolt forwardly and pressing saidsurface against a point on said hand operated member to press itforwardly, when the bolt is in fully projected position, and having itsother end portion press- Ving against a separated point on said handoperated member, to tend to swingD said member forwardly, regardless ofthe pressure of said bolt surface against the same,

and an abutment against which the hand operated member is normally thuspressed 10 forwardly.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, thisl5 day of May 1922, at Bridgeport, Conn.

RAYMOND G. MOORE.

